Little Baby Sweater In Posy
Our wonderfully intuitive Little Baby Sweater leaves behind scallops, lace, and fuss and, instead, knits up in simple garter stitch with zero shaping and very little sewing. For knitters, it is a playful geometric brain game, and for earth’s newest inhabitants, it is pure sweetness!
To make it, you’ll cast on at the bottom edge and knit upwards in one piece. Binding off for the underarms, you knit the fronts and back separately, then follow with the button bands. Finish by picking up and knitting the sleeves and sewing their undersides into place… Very simple!
Originally knit in a now-discontinued yarn, how could we resist bringing back our Little Baby Sweater in our soft, sumptuous, and machine washable Posy and Pocket Posy yarns? We had some fun and changed the color of the Pocket Posy stripes in each section. Do the same or try your own thing: alternating stripes, gradating stripes, rainbow stripes, whatever you think baby might like!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Whitney Van Nes.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoLittleBabySweater, and #PurlSohoPosy. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- Main Color (MC): 2 skeins of Purl Soho’s Posy, 75% superwash merino, 15% cashmere, and 10% nylon. Each skein is 159 yards/ 50 grams; approximately 203 yards required. We used Heirloom White. (NOTE: We no longer offer Posy, but choose from one of our other fingering weight yarns.)
- Contrast Colors (CC1, 2, and 3): 1 skein of Purl Soho’s Posy, 75% superwash merino, 15% cashmere, and 10% nylon. Approximately 63 total yards required. We used…
- CC1: Maple Wood
- CC2: Pink Papaya
- CC3: Azalea Glow
NOTE: If you’d like to use just one color for the Contrast Color, a single skein of Posy would suffice!
- A US 3 (3.25 mm), 20- or 24- inch circular needles
- Four 3/8-inch buttons. We used Purl Soho’s Small Mother Of Pearl Buttons, 2-hole Ecru.
Gauge
7 stitches = 1 inch in garter stitch
Size
Newborn-6 Months
- Finished Chest Circumference: 18¼ inches
- Finished Length From Bottom Hem To Top Shoulder: 9½ inches
- Finished Length From Bottom Hem To Underarm: 5½ inches
Pattern
Follow the instructions for our original Little Baby Sweater pattern, except use CC1 for the Body, through the Separating For Underarms section. Use CC2 for the Right Front, Back, and Left Front, and for the Sleeves, use CC3.
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
Live to knit this
So sorry the pattern is not written for larger sizes. Can that be considered? I can easily imagine it on my 17 month old granddaughter who lives in a warm climate and could use just this kind of sweater
Hello Cecelie,
Thank you for reaching out! I agree, This is such a lovely sweater. I will pass along your suggestion!
Happy knitting,
Marilla
Id love to see this simple pattern for teens and even adults! Thankyou so much.
I’m with Cecelie (I think we may even pronounce our names the same way!)
I have an extremely petite 5 year old granddaughter who’d look adorable in this …
Please can you see what the difference would be to knit for a 7 year old
I would really love the option for an older child
Hello Noeleen,
Thank you for your interest our pattern- I will pass along the request!
Happy knitting!
-Marilla
From what I can see there is a huge demand to request pattern for older child…………is this going to happen?
Hello Noeleen,
We so appreciate the excitement for this pattern and the enthusiasm for larger sizes. We will continue to pass along your requests to the design team!
Warmly,
Marilla
Great pattern for our tropical nights . Could it be possible to obtain other sizes changing materials and needles number?
Hi Beatriz,
Thank you so much for the kind words! You could certainly trying using a heavier weight yarn and larger needles to knit a larger version of the sweater; however, it’s hard to say just what size sweater you will end up with without swatching and doing it a bit of math. If you do give it a try, please let us know how it turns out!
Best,
Julianna
I, too, wish this pattern came in larger sizes. Beautiful pattern and colors!! Perfect for my granddaughters who lives in Florida. Please consider creating ……Thank you.
Hi Ann,
Thank you for your interest and your request! I will pass it along.
Happy knitting!
-Marilla
I agree with Cecilia! This is a perfect summer sweater for a child! I’d love to knit one for my 4-1/2 year old granddaughter who wears a Girls 5. Maybe it could be rewritten to accommodate Girls sizes?
Hello Valerie,
Thank you for reaching out- I will pass along your suggestion!
Happy knitting,
Marilla
Is it possible to get this pattern in a larger size?? My toddler would love this!
Hi Grace,
Thank you for reaching out! Thank you for your suggestion, I will pass it along.
Happy knitting!
-Marilla
Any chance there is a crochet pattern on this?
Hi Angelina,
Thanks for writing in! We do not have a crocheted version of this blanket but we will keep your request in mind for the future!
Best,
Julianna
Darling baby pattern but was wondering if it could be knit for 2 year old.
Hi Sharon,
Thanks so much for the kind words and for reaching out! Unfortunately we do not have instructions for knitting this sweater in a larger size; however, I will be sure to pass your suggestion along to the design team!
Best,
Julianna
I would love this in MY size! (Ladies medium)- it’s just my kind of knitting: simple, provides instant gratification and is modern chic. Please, please think about it for adults.
A lot of grandmothers want to have this pattern for their older grand daughter. That was my thought too when I saw this beautiful sweater. Maybe an option to enlarge the pattern with the sizes for 2, 4, 6 and 8 years old girl?
Hi Ingrid,
Thanks for reaching out! I will be sure to add your voice to the many requests for larger sizes in this pattern!
Best,
Julianna
Hi. Looking for pattern by !Lindsey Conner. It was free pattern for baby sweater,, date was Nov.23 .2012. It is a pullover with faux cables. Thank you so !much for this service.
Hi Gloria,
Thanks for reaching out! We don’t have this pattern available through Purl Soho… I would recommend checking out Ravelry!
Warmly,
Gianna
I’m sure it’s me. I can’t find the actual knitting instructions.
Hi Toni,
Thanks for reaching out! You can find the free pattern in our original Little Baby Sweater story, which is linked above in the “Pattern” section, or right here for your convenience.
Happy knitting!
Julianna
DITTO to all the other requests for larger sizes. Thank you.
Heidi
Hi, you are my favourite knitting website.
However I live in Australia and I find it difficult to know what is the equivalent wool used. Could you please let me know what the ply of your “Purl Soho Posy” used to knit Little Ba by Sweater?
Regards
Puce
Hi Puce,
Thanks for reaching out! Posy is a fingering weight yarn, which would be equivalent to an Australian 4-ply weight yarn.
Happy knitting!
Julianna
Such a sweet sweater!! Would love to make it for my 2 year old granddaughter! How do you enlarge the pattern?
Thank you.
Hi Cheri,
Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately we do not have instructions for knitting this sweater in a larger size; however, I will be sure to pass your suggestion along to the design team!
Best,
Julianna
Just adding my request to the others for ANY larger size version.
Thanks
Jo (Melbourne Australia )
Another voice from the clamoring crowd–Please create an adult and some toddler versions !!!!
I have just starting knitting this sweater, all in one colour. I have a question. When I get to “Separate for Underarms” the pattern reads “With wrong side facing you, knit 15…..” The last row I finished was a “wrong side” row. Do I rip out a row to start the separation on a wrong side? Did anyone else have this problem?
Hi Mary,
Thanks for reaching out! This pattern actually starts with a wrong side row, rather than a right side row, so when working the stripes as written, you do end with a right side row. Since yours is all one color you can go ahead and start the next section without any changes!
Best,
Julianna
Hello from rainy now but perfectly sunny in the summer Hampshire, UK!
There’s no doubt this little sweater is gorgeous enough for us all to be hankering after larger sizes:-) For my 18 month-old, and actually, I would love to twin with her in this beautiful pattern!
May the talented designers at Purl Soho hear our pattern prayers!
Sorry I’m such a beginner. I can’t find how many stitches to cast on to start this project. Do you have more detailed instructions?
Hi Jean,
Thanks for reaching out! You can find the full pattern on our original Little Baby Sweater post.
Happy knitting!
Julianna
Ditto on larger sizes.
Thank You!!
c
DITTO on larger sizes!
I bought posy & pocket posy for this sweater, and the gauge on this seems to be remarkably off. My 124 stitch piece was a whopping 32″. I even did it twice and made it as tight as I can. It looks nice and tight, and I’m not a completely terrible knitter so I’m a bit confused by all this. Should I size down needles? Should I do less stitches? I’m worried if I do less stitches then the rest of the pattern will be off.
For all the people who want to size up, when I knit this pattern according to instructions it definitely big enough for a 5 year old : P
Hello Kate,
Thanks for writing! This definitely sounds like a gauge issue- we have all been there! There are endless factors that can change a knitters gauge and there is no standard gauge so I often have to adjust my needles to get gauge. I would knit up a little gauge swatch on a US 1 and see how close you are to the pattern’s 7 stitches per inch gauge.
I hope this helps and good luck!
-Marilla
Please, please, please provide us all with this adorable pattern in larger sizes. With your company’s talented staff I can’t believe it would be that difficult or time consuming.
I have been eyeing this pattern for awhile thinking about making it in an adult size like many others who have posted. Using the 7 stitches to an inch, as per the pattern, I am going to come up with a version for myself. If it works, I will post to this thread and let you all know the numbers that I work out. I think this would be a lovely spring sweater and can’t wait to try to make it work. I have to finish one project first, but will follow up and let you all know how it goes.
Joining the chorus for larger sizes please!!!! 🙂
Hi I am going to say the same thing Lol!!! We need the larger size, how long have the people been asking for? I love your store and website you guys are doing a great service. Thank for all the beautiful patterns
Purl Soho: Your loyal customers have spoken. Kindly append my name to the long list of knitters who are requesting larger sizing on the LITTLE BABY SWEATER pattern. The “cuteness” of this sweater should be enjoyed by all sizes! Whitney Van Nes – you should be so pleased to see the joyful anticipation you have brought to so many moms, aunts, grandmothers and others who can’t wait for that expanded pattern sizing so that we can slip that adorable little creation on our loved ones. These are such awful times – knitting for loved ones is one thing that brings many of us so much joy. I would be so grateful to you! Thank you!
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for reaching out! Thank you for your kind words and expressing your interest in more sizes for this baby sweater! I will be sure to pass this along to the rest of the team!
Warmly,
Gianna
Hi, I made this little sweater once before. I want to knit it again. I happen to have 3 skeins of Pocket Posy (79yd skeins) I realize I would need more of the Heirloom White to knit this. Is this yarn no longer available? 😢 if that is the case, can you suggest what other yarn I could use. I could use my 3 (79 yd.) skeins for the stripes. Correct?
Thank you for your help.
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for reaching out! We’re currently in the process of transitioning our full-size Posy and Pocket Posy skeins into 50g skeins and we’re hoping to launch this new size in just a couple of weeks! So you will be able to get more of the Heirloom White Posy very soon. If you wanted to get started with another yarn immediately, I’d recommend Anzula’s Cricket in Au Natural as a good alternative to the Posy!
I hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any other questions!
Warmly,
Kelsey
Hello, any news on making this pattern in larger sizes? Many thanks!
Hi FF,
Thanks for reaching out! We don’t have any plans to expand the sizes for this sweater, but thank you for expressing your interest! I will be sure to pass this along to the rest of the team!
All the best,
Gianna